If James Toney and Floyd were both naturally in the same weight class, who would win?

Damn. A focused, dedicated Tony is tough to beat. I can say we may not have ever seen the full potential of Toney. Which is a scarey thought.

 

Toney had close fights with just about every elite fighter he faced (not counting RJJ) and was outboxed for long periods in those matches. He was always somewhat less than the sum of his parts.

He looked like he could be on Floyd's level and should be... but he really wasn't.

 

Floyd had more tools but Toney had better offense, punching tecnhique and flow.

 

He could've been the GOAT imo. I remember seeing this one interview where all the other great super middleweights like Calzaghe, Eubank, and etc. were gathered and asked who was the most naturally gifted SMW they ever seen, they all said Toney.

Roy was the only one pissy though lol

 

More pop and slicker combinations. Even compared to Pretty Boy

 

Floyd would take the real fight, but loses the fantasy fight

 

Floyd easily. Toney was a stationary fighter. Floyd is too fast of feet and hands and would pot shot him to a wide UD.

 

Yep this, Mayweather had more tools in his repertoire. Toney is perhaps one of the few fighters that might have a better Philly shell than Mayweather but Mayweather had more than just a shoulder roll and a counter off that. He had great movement and as you point out Toney all too often just planted himself in front of guys because he could make them miss, he rarely had to face a fighter who could pick him off at range and when he did he was less effective when having to cut off the ring. Mayweather could switch to a high guard, he could walk you down too. That combined with his gym rat mentality, would also be in better shape, regardless of which Toney shows up.

So for me Mayweather is better P4P and would in this fantasy match up.

 

Toney was outworked a few times.

 

Roy did beat him to be fair!! And it was only Steve Collins who said Toney was the most naturally talented of them all, not everyone else

 

Wow what a super interesting Styles match up! I would have to lean towards Mayweather, as I believe he was fundamentally the better boxer of the two and would catch Tony in some compromising positions, breaking through that sneaky defense that Tony was so great at.